A variety of packers are used in wellbores to isolate specific wellbore regions. A packer is delivered downhole on a tubing string and a packer sealing element is expanded against the surrounding wellbore wall to isolate a region of the wellbore. Often, two or more packers can be used to isolate several regions in a variety of well related applications, including production applications, service applications and testing applications.
In some well applications, inflatable packers are used to isolate specific regions of wellbores. Inflatable packers generally comprise an inflatable inner bladder to seal the inflation pressure. A mechanical structure is arranged around the inner bladder to provide resistance to inflation pressure and to secure the packer against pressure differentials between regions of the wellbore when the packer is inflated. An outer cover can be placed around the mechanical structure to ensure a seal is formed with respect to the differential pressures. Sometimes, an additional layer is placed between the mechanical structure and the inner bladder to prevent extrusion of the inner bladder. However, substantial friction exists along the additional layer which can prematurely damage packer components, such as the inflatable inner bladder.